Today's First Rescue- MBD Juvenile, rescue number 185

I got myself into a bit of trouble last night-- I started browsing the local online Reptile ads.

Yeah, bad move. TOO many beardies for sale.

I perform "Visual Triage" on the ads I look through. I look at the beardie, his eyes & weight, the tank & the lights, etc. If it's bad, I'll text on it. If it looks fine, I pass. I only go for the sickly ones.

One of the first beardie ads that caught my attention was for a juvenile beardie who *obviously* had/has MBD. You can see from the pic that his wrist is broken/bent in the classic MBD way.

I sent a text to the owner stating there were obvious problems, etc. The response said "Fine, you're a rescuer, you take him." I said I would and that I'd only take the beardie so he could sell the set up.

"No," came the very strong reply. "I am not giving him away. If you want him, you have to buy him & his setup. I need the money."

When I get unexpected donations through PayPal, I set the money aside in an account for the purposes of rescuing. Honestly, I call it my "Blood Money" fund for times like these when an owner is bent on getting money for their sickly animal. It's like paying bail money to get them out of hell. :( I made arrangements to buy the beardie & his setup this morning for $80. Luckily the cage is nice and I can clean it up and sell it to recoup some of my costs.

The cage he was in had ONE 60 watt black bulb. That's it. No day lamp, no UVB, no basking spot. A thin layer of nasty sand on the bottom.

When I picked him up today, I asked if he liked greens. There was an awkward pause. "We didn't know you could feed him veggies and so we never tried." They fed him mealworms only twice a day for months. No calcium. No UVB. No food. No pellet.

This guy is a miracle that he's even alive. His wrist is abnormally bent, but overall his bones are surprisingly strong!

Within an hour of being in a new "sick" tank, he had the biggest, oddest poop I've ever seen from a baby. I fed him some roaches and he loved them. He doesn't seem to be slowed down by his bent wrist at all.

Still trying to think of a name since I refuse to call him "Little Devil." He's probably about 4/5 months old. I can't wait to get him in the direct sunshine tomorrow.


If you'd like to help build back up my "Blood Money" or "Bail Money" or "Emergency Rescue" Funds, please click HERE! And Thank you!

Curse You, Online Classifieds!!

Confessional Post: 
Online Classifieds get me into a LOT of trouble. 

Because I can't NOT look at them. Because I find sickly critters to save on them. Because sometimes the ads make me want to beat my head against the wall or say bad words. It's an addiction to me currently. I even deleted the app on my phone that takes me right to local classifieds, but that had no effect because I just open up that webpage in my Safari browser on my iPhone. 

Let me give you some examples from the past week of the struggle with online ads. 

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This pic attached to a Craig's List ad I found last week. 

Yeah, I know. HORRID! No reply to any form of communication I made. The ad was only a week and a half old. NO RESPONSE! It killed me. The pic still kills me. I bet you the beardie died before he could sell it. Then I have to tell myself that I cannot save them all.

P.S. There is NO other way to contact this person. I promise. So please don't. Please just trust me.

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Because I live in Utah, there's actually a different online classified page that's bigger than Craig's List. Crazy, huh? It's with a radio & TV station called KSL. So KSL Classifieds page is where I do most of my surfing-- read: suffering. 

www.ksl.com if you're curious but beware.

Like this interesting ad: "Buy Broken Tank and Get Dragon Free!"

Yes, I have a cracked tank that doesn't hold water, BUT wait! There's more-- you get a free foot long bearded dragon (not pictured). I'm waiting for pics of the beardie on this ad. No UVB, only a single bulb black light (60 to 75 watts max) hanging above one end. Not good. 

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Then there was this sad picture of a young beardie who obviously has the beginnings of MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease or Rubbery Bones). Look at the rubber bend in his elbow. *Classic* MBD symptom. The ad says (and this is a direct quote): "I'm trying to sell him I cant take care of him we have no money." **okay, I did actually add a period to the sentence because I'm just not a monster and I couldn't help myself. 

I emailed the owner. I usually just pretend to be an interested buyer and don't come out and say "You're an idiot and your lizard is sick." I did try that once; it did not go well. I ask basic questions: how old, how long have you had it, what lights does it have, what set up comes with it, does it have a UVB light, etc. etc..

Here's a screenshot of the last part of the text conversation I had with the owner. I'm going to assume that he/she is under 15 and has poor social texting skills because that makes me think of fewer bad names to call him/her. 

The set up, in case you wondered, is CRAP. NO substrate, one red light bulb, a stick, and a UVB light that is way too high and probably very old. So this one is a "Buy Overpriced Beardie and Get Crap Tank Free."

P.S. I've thought of at least a dozen snotty replies to that last message to me, but I'm being mature and I'm not actually replying back. Good luck, Buddy, selling a sickly & overpriced beardie. 

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NOTE TO SELF: STAY OFF THE CLASSIFIEDS! 

at least for tonight. 

and maybe tomorrow too. 

and don't text back people and call them "Idiot!" even if you really want to. 

Plus, I think when I'm really tired I'm a lot more snarky and sarcastic-- as evidenced by this post. I have to try to find the humor in things sometimes otherwise I'd be like that little black gamer cat sticker that I use EVERYDAY on Facebook messenger that's beating his head against the table. Seriously. 

Rescuing reptiles is great; it's the owners I have a problem with.